Introduction A well preserved naturally
mummified human head has been found in 1936
with two other mummies at LaCueva de las Momias,
level 1A,(misleadingly named Inca Cueva IV due to its proximity to
the Camino de los Incas)
at
3680 m.o.s.l., in the Quebrada of Chulin (Prov.of
Jujuy, Argentina)by Justiniano
TORRES APARICIO, MD and folkmusic composer.His "Clavelito blanco" is interpreted by Thomas LIPAN
at url http://www.archaeometry.org/lipan.mp3 (188ko)
(while as sonor background for IE on XP).A
sample of temporal skin from the head of Chulina
has been radiocarbon dated at the AMS Radiocarbon Laboratory
of the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zürich.
The resulting calibrated age of Chulina is 6'080
±
100 years (within 82% probability).
Compared with Ötzi (the paleoalpine mummy
found in Ötztal), the age of this paleoandean head is 5'260 ± 50
years BP,
i.e., olderby 724 ± 53 years BP.
The Cave of the Mummies has
been decorated prior to sheltering the mummies.
Those results have been presented at the XVth World Congress
UISPP 2006, Lisbon, see Proceed. Session C04, Vol 37, pp.111-114

The
sample studied:

The three
mummies found by J.
TORRES APARICIO
were desiccated naturally, and therefore
suitable for radiocarbon
dating.(let us remind here that radiocarbon dating of embalmed
Egyptians mummies is meaningless).

For this
study, was available a piece of temporal
skin of about 3 cm2area and of a
weight of 120 mg.

The sample of left temporal skin on millimetric
paper (Photo: L. Dubal)

This sample was been carefully collected at the Museo J. TORRES APARICIOin Humahuaca (Prov. Jujuy,
Argentina), on the "Cabeza J.T.A.-240"

Thanks to the highly appreciated support of
George BONANI & Irka HAJDASfrom the AMS Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Federal
Polytechnic Institute in Zürich,
the skin sample of JTA-240,
after having been thoroughly degreased and washed from
contaminants,has
been submitted to the standard ETH 14C-AMS
dating method,
(which by the way has been applied
for
Ötzi )and results released on July,
8th, 2005 asETH-30630.

Discussion of the results

The δ13C
= -19.5 ± 1.1 °/°°
which is what one could expect for human skin.
The 14C-AMS Age is 5'260
± 50 y BP
The calibrated age is BCE 4170 - 3972 with 82.5%
probability
(while the age range BCE 4224 - 4180 has 17.5% probability).

Let us note
that earlier,
in 1986, Alicia FERNANDEZ DISTEL let perform
the radiodating of a sample of a wood container
found at level 1A, just next to the three mummies
gave 5'200 ± 110 y BP.In 1995, another radiodating (by
Beta Analytic in Miami) of a piece of wood,
gave 5'340 ± 70
y BP.

MORE...

La Cueva de las Momias : adecorated shelter
The initial name of the site: Inca
Cueva # 4, is
inappropriate as it has only been occupied by palaeoamericans
between 10
and 4 thousands years Before Common Era.
We renamed it "La Cueva de las Momias"

The GPS
coordinates of LaCueva de las Momias is
:
S23°00’22.6” /
W65°28’05.1” 3680 mosl, in the Quebrada
de Chulin, 2 h walk off Rio Grande.

La
Cueva de las Momias is decorated with painted
patterns
with dots and strokes.

Candelaria Torres Aapricio, nieta del Dr. Justiniano Torres Aparicio

Two
complete mummies

At
Humahuaca (Prov. Jujuy, Argentina), the collection
of late
Justiniano TORRES APARICIO,was transformed into the Museo
J. TORRES APARICIOIn addition to the
mummified head of Chulina,
the Museum present two complete mummies,Candelaria Torres Aapricio, nieta del Dr. Justiniano Torres Aparicio
in particular the one the inventor named Rosalia:

This mummy is the naturally
dessicated remains
of a woman,17
to 20 years old.

The fez of Rosalia is of a remarkable finishing.

as well as
her manta (105cm x 63 cm) in net.

As no logbook of the excavations has been found so far,
radiodating of samples of the fez
and manta,
would provide helpful data....

The last mummy is the one of a
child, we named Chulinita.

Conclusion

The
radiodating of the skin of Chulina in 2005
comforts the wood samples radiodatings of 1986 and 1995,
to promote Rosalia & Chulinita
for the title of the world oldest natural mummies.Ötzi
died 5'235 ± 120 calibrated-years,
while Rosalia & Chulinita
lived in all likelihood 6'000 calibrated-years ago.
The undisturbed state of the paintings of the Cave of the Mummies
implies that thisRockArt
is at least 6000
years old.

Acknowledgment:We would like to thank here Mrs. Alicia TORRES,
the owner and director of the Museo TORRES,
in Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina)
who authorized this study, and
Ms. Candelaria TORRES APARICIO, the grand daughter of Dr. J. TORRES APARICIOto have lately express her interest in our results.